The British Rally Championship, Stars of the Future is set to benefit from an injection of funds from mobile phone retailer Get Connected!, one of only 25 Orange Business Specialists in the UK, will donate 20% of the gross profit made on all motor sport customer related sales to the Stars of the Future initiative which will also be used to help fund a British Junior Rally Team in 2006 and beyond.

Last week International Motorsport Services (IMS) Ltd, the commercial arm of the MSA, were the first corporate customer to place an order with Get Connected! resulting in £3000 being donated to the fund.

Andrew Coe, M.D of IMS Ltd, says “ We are delighted to be the first company to be involved with this scheme as raising funds to promote up and coming drivers is of paramount importance. I hope other people will follow our lead and contact Get Connected! rather than sourcing their mobile phones elsewhere. With a concerted effort I wonder how much we can raise for the fund by this time next year?”

Running for the first time this year on selected rounds of the BRC, Stars of the Future is a series aimed at promoting new talent, providing a clear path of progression up into the British Rally Championship. The eventual winner will receive free entries in the Formula 2000 class on all rounds of the 2006 BRC and this exciting initiative in partnership with Get Connected! is aimed at providing a cash prize fund.

“With this support from Get Connected! and the BRC working in partnership with the MSA’s Talented Driver Scheme, I believe we are now progressing rapidly in providing an arena and structure for the development of rally drivers and co-drivers within the BRC Stars of the Future and Junior Rally Championship category and team prize. It is really exciting and great news for the sport here in the UK.” says Mark Taylor, BRC Manager.

Damian Cole, M.D of Get Connected!, has himself competed since 1995 and appreciates how difficult it is to progress in the sport on a limited budget. “My first rally car was a Mk 1 Golf Gti that cost £430, that sort of money wouldn’t get you very far as a young talented driver in 2005 ! You only have to look at Sebastian Loeb becoming World Rally Champion last year and the result Kris Meeke achieved on the Monte Carlo Rally to realise that well spent funding does work. If everyone involved in UK motor sport gets behind this idea we could quite easily raise tens of thousands of pounds for the fund and maybe help create the next British World Rally Champion – the sky’s the limit. ”